LA Close To Lifting Ban On Public Murals

A car drives by the mural titled "Freeway Children" in the downtown area of Los Angeles in May 2004. The mural was painted by Los Angeles native artist Glenna Boltuch Avila in 1984. (credit: Hector Mata/AFP/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles city leaders are a step closer to lifting a decade-long ban on public murals.

The City Council voted 13-2 on Wednesday to allow the murals again.

The decision comes after years of debate over how the city should regulate murals, which flourished in the 1970s and chronicled generations of Los Angeles history.

A proliferation of advertising on walls led to the ban and lawsuits by advertisers.

The new rules, which must come back for an expected final approval next week, will permit new murals in business and industrial zones as long as artists register projects with the city and pay an application fee. Commercial messages are prohibited and the murals must stay in place for at least two years as part of the city effort to control advertising.